This invention relates to a tube squeezer for dispensing the content of a collapsible tubular container (hereinafter referred to as a tube) and deals more particularly with a tube squeezer for a tube containing adhesive materials such as architectual caulking materials and the like.
It is hard work to squeeze caulking material from a tube by hand during construction work because the caulking material has a high degree of adhesion or tackiness and high viscosity. Therefore, a caulking gun is conventionally used for squeezing the caulking material from its tube. One type of such a caulking gun as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,951 has a mechanism for stripping the caulking material from two tubes accommodated parallel to each other in a casing. In the casing is provided a feed screw with which a carriage is engaged so as to be moved along the feed screw. On each side of the carriage are connected two squeezing rolls between which each of the tubes is squeezed. The feed screw is rotated by an electric motor in a gun-shaped hand drill. When the feed screw is rotated by the motor, the rolls move from the tail of the tube to the head thereof while squeezing the tube by pressing it from the upward and downward directions.
In this type of the caulking gun, an electric drill is used to rotate the feed screw. This makes the entire gun heavy. In addition, a mechanism for transmitting the driving force of the motor to the carriage is very complicated.
A hot melt adhesive gun similar to the caulking gun is also known. In one known type of hot melt adhesive gun which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,484, a cartridge containing thermoplastic adhesive is held in a cylindrical chamber formed on a main body in the shape of a pistol. A plunger is driven into engagement with the cartridge by a manually operative trigger to provide pressure for pushing the adhesive out of the cartridge. The plunger is gradually moved forward by an infinite resolution ratchet mechanism to press the bottom of the cartridge as a trigger lever is actuated by hand.
In this hot melt adhesive gun, as the infinite resolution ratchet mechanism is used for gradually moving the plunger by hand, the gun is not very heavy. However, this gun is for squeezing the adhesive in a cylindrical cartridge and cannot squeeze the adhesive from a tube containing the adhesive.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,940 teaches a tube squeezer for dispensing the content of a conventional toothpaste tube. The tube squeezer has a hollow body in which a tube is received. In this hollow body is provided a squeezer block in which two rolls are accommodated. The squeezer block is moved forward by actuating a handle provided at the front end of the hollow body, while the two rolls rotate as they press against the opposite surfaces of the tube.
In this type of tube squeezer, it is troublesome to set the tube in the hollow body because, at that time, the spout of the tube must be registered with an opening in the forward wall of the hollow body. Furthermcre, a driving mechanism for moving the squeezer block is not strong enough to squeeze adhesive materials having a high degree of tackiness and high viscosity such as caulking materials.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,688 teaches a shrouded tube squeezer having a pair of rollers which are adapted to be rotated by a key embedded in one of the rollers. These rollers are accommodated in a shroud housing having entrance and exit slits for passing a tube between the rollers. In this tube squeezer, the shroud housing is moved forward by rotating the winding key with one hand while the tail of the tube is held by the other hand. The shroud housing is moved manually and accordingly adhesive materials of high viscosity and tackiness cannot be squeezed by a tube squeezer of this construction.